A group of community-minded citizens in Fredericksburg are ready to party Hawaiian style.
    A Hawaiian luau will be held at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at city hall. Organizers hope community members will put on their Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts to help raise money for an electronic billboard to be constructed at city hall. There is no charge for the hog roast; however, a free-will donation will be asked. In addition to roasted pig, the community-wide event will also feature music and a tiki hut bar. 
    “We want the sign to help promote events in our community, like the one they have in New Hampton and Denver,” said Fredericksburg Mayor Bryan O’Day.
    This project is just part of the renovation plans O’Day and other community members have for the downtown area. City council members recently hired an architect to redesign Main Street. At the July 7 council meeting, Ament Inc. architect Larry Buchholz presented preliminary plans for proposed streetscape improvements for a three-block Fredericksburg downtown area.
    “We basically have a four-lane highway through Fredericksburg,” O’Day said.
    O’Day said the electronic billboard will cost approximately $16,000. “That doesn’t include the base,” he added. The architect’s plans include brick pavers that will line both sides of the street with an estimated cost of $48,150. Accenting the brick pavers on the south side of the street will be shade trees. In all, landscaping the area would cost $25,000.
    A one-way bicycle lane is also proposed, along with new lighting, pedestrian crosswalk nodes that jut into Main Street and standard parallel parking spaces along both sides of the street.
    The total estimated cost for the project is $753,575. The city council and committee will look into applying for grants to help cover some of the costs for the project. The committee is also planning more community events in the fall.
    “We are about a fourth of the way toward our goal. We have received several nice size donations,” O’Day said. “Once we reach the half-way point, we have been told we will receive more donations.”